NOTE:
You've come to an old part of SW Online. We're still moving this and other older stories into our new format. In the meanwhile, click here to go to the current home page.

U.S. officials out to wreck world court

By Nicole Colson | June 28, 2002 | Page 2

U.S. OFFICIALS are demanding that all American peacekeeping troops be granted blanket immunity from prosecution by the new International Criminal Court. Otherwise, the U.S. will stop participating in any United Nations (UN) humanitarian or peacekeeping mission.

Earlier this year, the Bush administration announced that the U.S. wouldn't sign on to the international treaty to establish the court--for fear that U.S. soldiers would become "victims" of political trials charging them with war crimes. In reality, the Bush gang feared that U.S. soldiers might be held accountable for their actions.

Sixty countries ratified the treaty, and the court is set to be formed next month. Even having rejected the treaty, the U.S. could have made arrangements on a case-by-case basis to continue participating in UN missions.

But the U.S. demanded blanket immunity making a mockery of "the international legal order," as one diplomat put it.

Home page | Back to the top